Its been a while since our last newsletter and the reason for this is that BATV has been extremely busy! We are nearing completion of filming for the series "The Gulf of Mexico - Today and Tomorrow". In late August BATV spent a wonderful week in the UK at the British BirdFair, the largest birdwatching event on the international birding calendar. We are also finishing up our filming of the Hollywood movie, The Big Year. And as if that's not enough, we are beginning the filming for our 2011 season that premieres on VERSUS in January (see below for more details).

Congratulations to Wayne Laubscher of PA for identifying the latest mystery bird as a Laughing Gull. Be sure to enter this week's quiz!

Stay tuned for another Birding Adventure!

THE TV SHOW WHERE BIRDS OF A FEATHER ADVENTURE TOGETHER

BATV COMES TO VERSUS !

Nikon's Birding Adventures TV premieres on the largest outdoor network in the world in 2011. With the termination of outdoor programming on ESPN, VERSUS has now become the world leader in outdoor programming and is available in a staggering 80 million households in 2011. In partnership with Careco Multimedia, BATV will now be available twice a week on VERSUS with a prime-time Saturday morning air and a weekday re-air.

As well as being the home of the Tour de France, VERSUS features a wide variety of outdoor programming including diving, kayaking, adventure, hunting, fishing and now birding. BATV is currently setting up filming in several exotic destinations and the show will follow a revised "magazine" format for 2011, featuring one US and one international destination in every action-packed episode.

As well as our programming on VERSUS, BATV will continue to be available on R&R on DirecTV and on Untamed Sports throughout 2011. All the shows will also be available online at www.BirdingAdventures.com after they have aired on TV. Stay tuned to our next newsletter for exact times and more details.

We look forward to a successful season of BATV and...

Let's Go Birding!

HABITAT FOR WORLDS RAREST MACAW SAVED!

Habitat vital to the world's rarest and most endangered Macaw surviving in the wild, the Blue-throated Macaw, has been purchased in a joint effort by three leading conservation groups -- American Bird Conservancy, Asociación Armonía Bolivia and World Land Trust, US. Over 2,800 acres of savanna and rainforest in northwestern Bolivia will now be protected as part of the existing Barba Azul Nature Preserve - creating a total protected area of 11,555 acres.

"Only about 350 Blue-throated Macaws, including as few as 50 breeding pairs, are believed to exist in the wild, so expanding the reserve was vitally important to preservation efforts for this bird," said George Fenwick, President of American Bird Conservancy, the leading bird conservation organization in the United States.

"Sadly, the fragile habitat for the macaw was being destroyed in the rush to convert traditional farming practices to intensive soya and cattle farms. Saving this land will expand the sole protected area in this delicate ecosystem and safeguard critical habitat, not only for the macaw, but for many other threatened species, including jaguars and giant anteaters," said Bennett Hennessey, who headed efforts for World Land Trust-US.

"By purchasing this land, we will be able to extend protection across the spectacular Omi river and create a more effective boundary against the impacts of cattle ranching, while incorporating more crucial Blue-throated Macaw habitat into the reserve. The enlarged reserve now protects five important Motacu palm forest islands. The Blue-throated Macaw depends on the oil-rich fruit of this palm tree for its survival," said Mauricio Herrera from Armonía/ Loro Parque Fundacion Blue-throated Macaw Conservation Program.

The Blue-throated Macaw is found only in one place on Earth: the Beni Savannas of Bolivia. It is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), due to habitat loss and poaching for the wild bird trade. The complex system of grasslands, marshes, and forests that makes up the Beni is largely in the hands of cattle ranchers. Every year, large swaths of land are lost to intentional burning for pastureland.

The Barba Azul Nature Reserve is now being managed by Asociación Armonía Bolivia. "Barba Azul" means "Blue Beard" in Spanish, and is the colloquial name for this beautiful Bolivian endemic bird. Additionally, the preserve protects several other threatened bird species and provides habitat for large mammals such as jaguars, peccaries, pumas, giant anteaters, pampas deer, black caiman and maned wolves.

The expanded reserve provides a venue for actively researching conservation techniques for the Macaw and the grassland habitat. Researchers will place and monitor nest boxes, conduct habitat regeneration studies comparing areas with and without cattle, and research habitat requirements of the macaw.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has also provided substantial funding for conservation efforts in the area. Those efforts are targeted at Buff-breasted Sandpipers and other shorebird species that stopover on their long migrations in the Barba Azul Nature Reserve.

Photo: Joe Tobias

American Bird Conservancy conserves native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas by safeguarding the rarest species, conserving and restoring habitats, and reducing threats while building capacity of the bird conservation movement.

Congratulations to Wayne Laubscher of Lock Haven Pennsylvania who correctly identified our last mystery bird as a Laughing Gull. Bob won a Nikon lens cleaning kit and a $10 gift voucher to www.nikonprogear.com

Correctly identify this week's mystery bird and win a $10 gift voucher to www.nikonprogear.com and a Nikon lens cleaning kit.